Austin Bonta

Well, this all goes back to when Matt Ryan got the job as president of football operations.

Someone from, I believe, the Sun Times reported that if Ian Cunningham, who interviewed for the job Ryan got, eventually became the GM, the Bears wouldn't get the compensatory draft picks because Matt Ryan is running the football operation.

So Cunningham gets hired.

There's no compensatory picks.

Everybody moves on.

And then Ryan says that Cunningham is in charge of free agency in the draft.

And that's what caused this to become an issue again.

I asked the league about it earlier this week, and we've written one item on it.

And the league's position was that because Cunningham

Matt Ryan is the primary football executive in Atlanta.

Ian Cunningham's hire as GM doesn't qualify for the compensatory draft pick.

So I followed up and I asked, well, why is it different from 2022 when Terry Fontenot was hired from the Saints to be the GM?

And the league's response is, basically then, Terry Fontenot was becoming the primary football executive.

Now, Matt Ryan's the primary football executive.

That's the explanation.

Does it mesh with this idea that Matt Ryan is saying, hey,

Cunningham's in charge.

As one GM explained to me, this is a great safe harbor for Matt Ryan where he can have his cake and eat it too.

If things go sideways, I didn't do it.

Ian Cunningham was in charge of free agency in the draft.